Welcome to the Educated Parent Podcast!
Hi, I’m Dr. Leah Clionsky—licensed clinical psychologist, child behavior expert, and mom of two. I’m so excited to finally welcome you to the Educated Parent podcast!
This show was born out of something I see every day in my work and in my own parenting life: overwhelmed, high-achieving parents trying to do everything right, but completely stuck in a storm of conflicting information.
You follow all the Instagram experts, you read the books, you try all the trending parenting tips, and yet parenting still feels confusing. You just want to know: What’s the right thing to do?
That’s exactly why I created this podcast.
Why Parents Need Real Parenting Help
As both a psychologist and a parent, I get it.
You’re doing your best to show up, stay calm, and raise emotionally healthy kids—but the sea of advice can leave you feeling more anxious, not less. That’s where real, evidence-based parenting help comes in.
I created the Educated Parent podcast because I believe parents deserve access to real evidence-based parenting strategies.
Not influencer opinions.
Not outdated myths.
Real guidance from professionals who work with kids and families every single day. This podcast is here to help you cut through the noise and feel confident again.
My Background: Expert Support Meets Real-Life Parenting
I’ve spent over 15 years helping families through my work at Thriving Child Center and PCIT Experts, where we specialize in treating childhood behavior challenges and coaching parents on what works. I also specialize in Parent-Child Interaction Therapy (PCIT), one of the most powerful evidence-based parenting treatments available.
And while I love what I do as a clinician, I also know what it’s like to be in the trenches as a mom. I have a 3-year-old and a 5-year-old, and I promise you—just because I’m a child psychologist doesn’t mean I’m a perfect parent.
I lose my patience.
I second-guess myself.
And sometimes, I have absolutely no idea what to do.
Why This Podcast Is Different: I'm Sharing My Expert Network With You
Here’s the thing: I have something most parents don’t.
When I get stuck, I can text my expert network. Pediatricians, child psychologists, psychiatrists, speech therapists, occupational therapists—they’re all in my phone. And they give me answers that are rooted in science and actually work.
That’s not fair.
So I’m changing that. I created Educated Parent to bring parenting help straight to you.
You’ll get parenting tips and insights directly from me and from the incredible experts I know and trust. Together, we’re going to help you solve your everyday parenting dilemmas with real tools you can actually use.
What You Can Expect From the Educated Parent Podcast
Each week, I’ll deliver clear, compassionate advice on parenting grounded in psychology and backed by science. Some episodes will feature just me, walking you through common issues like tantrums, power struggles, and bedtime battles.
Other episodes will include guest experts sharing specialized knowledge on everything from childhood anxiety to emotional regulation to discipline strategies that work.
You won’t get generic fluff here. You’ll get evidence-based parenting solutions tailored for real life.
Who This Podcast Is For
If you’re a high-achieving parent who cares deeply about doing right by your child—but you’re tired of sifting through opinions and guessing your way through meltdowns—this podcast is for you.
You’ll love Educated Parent if you:
Want parenting tips from a licensed expert, not just a blogger
Believe in evidence-based parenting but don’t have time to read every research paper
Are looking for trustworthy advice on parenting that helps you feel more grounded, not more confused
Crave actionable parenting help for the real-life challenges you face every day
Let’s Do This Together
I’m so excited to bring you this show and share what I know—along with what my expert colleagues know—to make your parenting life a little easier and a lot more clear.
We’re in this together. Subscribe to the Educated Parent podcast wherever you listen, so you don’t miss an episode.
Because you deserve evidence-based parenting tools, real advice on parenting, and the kind of parenting help that builds your confidence, not your anxiety.
I’m so glad you’re here.
Let’s Connect:
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Dr. Leah Clionsky 00:00:02 Welcome to the Educated Parent podcast. I am your host, Doctor Leah Clionsky, and I am just so thrilled that you're here. And I'm so thrilled that the Educated Parent podcast is actually happening. So let me tell you a little bit about my plan for today. The first thing I'm going to do is introduce myself, tell you a little bit about me as an educated parent and also as a parent. Then I'm going to tell you why I started this podcast in the first place, and why I'm so excited that it's happening. And then I'm going to tell you the goal for the podcast and what you can expect. So as I mentioned, my name is Doctor Leah Clionsky. I have a doctoral degree in clinical psychology. So that means that I spend a lot of time in school. After my undergrad, I went to the University of Florida. I got my master's degree, then I got my doctorate. Then I moved to Houston. I did my internship and my postdoctoral fellowship here, and then I got licensed in 2013.
Dr. Leah Clionsky 00:01:03 So the thing that I've been doing my entire career, starting in graduate school when right in my first time in a research lab, was working with children who were struggling with behaviors and helping parents figure out what to do. So helping parents figure out what to do when they're faced with challenges, what they can actually do that will get results. That work is a deep passion of mine and is incredibly satisfying for me. And I love doing this so much that I opened a group practice so that we could help even more people. So now I have a group practice called Thriving Child Center, located in Houston, but available in 43 states. And in that clinic, we also have a specialty clinic where we do my passion, which is called parent child interaction therapy, which this is incredibly effective, evidence based treatment where we teach parents how to manage challenging behaviors and improve their relationships. And we coach you while you interact with your child. So I love it. I love being a child psychologist. I love my colleagues.
Dr. Leah Clionsky 00:02:08 It's so rewarding. I am also a parent. So at the time of this recording, I have a three year old and a five year old, and I love being a parent, and I especially love being a parent at the same time as being a clinician, because it means that I'm in the trenches. Like, I get it. Like I get that there are tough moments as a parent. So I love that I can feel those feelings and also provide clinical support at the exact same time. Now, one thing that you may think is, wow, you are very educated and you help families all the time. You must be a perfect parent and always know what to do. And the reality is that I am absolutely not a perfect parent. I make mistakes, I get lost, I run into situations where I react in one way and then relays afterwards. I should have done something completely different. And the reason is, is that when I'm a parent, I've taken my clinical hat off and I've put my parent hat on and suddenly I have emotions about what's going on, so it's hard for me to see situations clearly.
Dr. Leah Clionsky 00:03:12 Also, sometimes something's just outside of what I expected. And when that happens to me. I have this amazing advantage, which is that I have an expert network. So one of the great things about being a clinical psychologist, especially a child psychologist, is that over the years I have made a lot of friends with other child experts, so I can just get in my phone. I can text a group chat full of child psychologists. I can text child psychiatrist, child speech therapists, occupational therapists, pediatricians. I have this whole network of experts that I can text and it is not fair. It is not fair that if I get stuck, I can go in my phone and text people that really know what they're doing, who can give me advice that works right away, and that you are stuck asking ChatGPT and Instagram and TikTok and your friends who are also confused and just feeling panicked and overwhelmed by too much information. And that is why I created the Educated Parent podcast. I want you to be able to get your everyday parenting dilemmas solved by experts.
Dr. Leah Clionsky 00:04:21 I want you to be able to listen to this podcast and hear advice about things that happen on a daily basis to parents, and to be able to go home and know what to do. So sometimes that will just be me talking about a topic that comes up often, and giving you advice for how you can solve that problem that you can use today. Sometimes I'll be sitting here with an amazing colleague, getting their expertise and also learning a lot myself about things that I don't always know. So I am really excited that you are here so that we can both become more educated in our parenting together so that we can really help our children thrive. So I'm excited for you to be here. Please tell all of your friends, let's not gatekeeping this. Let's give people access to parenting advice from experts. You know, you can follow me on social media at Educated Parent podcast. I am so excited that you are here, and I look forward to sharing my network and my thoughts and working on things with you together.